Sun Vista History

Courtesy of David Pressler

Thanks to David Pressler for providing this history of Sun Vista. He also sailed on her during her last voyage as Celebrity's Meridian in 1997 which ended the day prior to her transformation into Sun Vista. He gives a fascinating insight into her complete history ..... many thanks David ....

Her life began on Lloyd Triestino’s drawing boards during the late 1950’s. The company was looking to build two new ships for the Italy-Australia immigrant trade. The sister-ships would be two-class ships with a profile highlighted by a large single funnel amidships, a main mast above the bridge and two king posts just forward. She would boast two swimming pools and a large amount of outdoor deck space. With her twin screws powered by steam turbines she would be expected make a speed of at least 24 knots.

After designs were sketched and proposals reviewed, Lloyd Triestino selected Cantieri Ruiniti dell’Adriatico as the company to build them. On July 2, 1961 after months of work, she was launched as the Galileo Galilei. She was then towed to her fitting out berth where work began installing her interiors. The fitting out was scheduled to be completed in 18 months, however, due to work strikes by the shipyard it would be an additional 2 months before she was finished. At last on April 22, 1963 she was ready for her maiden voyage.

Her initial statistics would measure 702 ft in length with a breadth of 93.8 ft and weigh in at a modest 27,888 tons with accommodations for 1,700 passengers. On April 22, 1963 she left Genoa, Italy with a mixture of immigrants and first class passengers onboard bound for Sydney, Australia. Later in the year she would be joined by her sister, Guglielmo Marconi, thus the beginning of 14 years of faithful service for the Lloyd Triestino Line.

By 1977, she started sailing with fewer and fewer passengers. With the Italian government no longer subsidizing the Australian immigrant trade accompanied with rising fuel, Lloyd Triestino decided to withdraw her from service. Both ships were briefly laid up before a company by the name of Italia Crociere Internazionali (ICI) leased them both for cruising. ICI immediately sent them to the Cantieri Navalli Riuniti Shipyard at Palermo to be converted into cruise ships. The conversion would take close to 18 months to complete.

On March 24, 1979, the Galileo Galilei emerged from the yard as a single-class ship with private facilities in all cabins with an updated décor. Her passenger capacity and speed were reduced, while her tonnage increased slightly to 28,083 tons. The Galileo would sail from Mediterranean ports while the Marconi would sail from United States ports for the Caribbean.This venture would bring only a temporary reprieve for these two ships for on September 29, 1979 the Galileo Galilei was laid-up in Genoa. Her sister, Guglielmo Marconi would stay in service until January 23, 1980 when she too would be laid up, but at Port Canaveral, Florida. Later in the year the Marconi would cross the Atlantic to join her laid-up sister at Genoa.There the two ships would remain awaiting their fates. Several interested prospects would inquire and visit them, but still no takers. Finally on October 22, 1983, after almost four years of lay-up, the Galileo Galilei was rescued by the Chandris group and given another lease on life. (Her sister would be sold later that year to Costa Armatori SpA (later Costa Cruises).

The Galileo (as she was now called) was registered in Panama under ownership of the Fourth Transoceanic Shipping Company Ltd. She was sent once again to the Genoa shipyards for refitting, which included cleaning away the four years of idleness and another update to her décor. It was at this time that the cargo area forward the bridge was transformed into luxury cabins with large promenade windows. Her aft cargo cranes were removed making way for additional outdoor lido space. Several of her former public rooms were removed to make way for additional cabins. When she finally re-entered service in 1984 both her size and passenger accommodations were reduced. She now weighed 17,634 tons and could carry 1,262 passengers on cruises to the Caribbean. She would sail under the Chandris-Fantasy banner.The Galileo was a profitable and well-liked ship. She, along with several other vintage ships that the Chandris group had acquired, sailed on schedule without incident carrying thousands of vacationers from Florida to the sunny Caribbean.

Around 1988 the Chandris group decided to create an upscale division to the Chandris-Fantasy. This upscale division would become known as Celebrity Cruises. The idea was to begin with a three-ship fleet, of them two would be new builds while a modernized Galileo would be the third. So in October 1989 the Galileo was withdrawn from service to undergo a major refit. She arrived at Bremerhaven for refitting by the Lloyd Werft Shipyards on October 12th to begin the process. This refit would include a newer, streamlined funnel complete with the new logo; extended aft decks; rebuilt public rooms and newer stateroom decors. The former Disco on the Lido Deck would now double as the Marina Café during the day hours. The Amalffi Deck would be lengthened and enclosed to accommodate the Children’s Playroom and pool, the Olympic Health Club, and additional cabins. Likewise, the Promenade Deck was lengthened and enclosed. Here the swimming pool was removed and the Celebrity Showroom emerged. The Olympia Ballroom would soon become the Rendezvous-Lounge and bar. The Cinema and Hospital retained most of their original selves, but the Chapel was the only room untouched, retaining her original large stain-glass murals and wooden pews.The refit would cost over $55 million and take 500 Greeks some five months to complete. Her tonnage would increase substantially to 30,440 tons and she now could carry 1,428 passengers in comfort and style at a speed of 24.5 knots.

On February 22, 1990 the ship was handed back to Chandris-Fantasy Cruises. She was promptly renamed Meridian and registered in Nassau under a flag of convenience. On March 1st, she left on her repositioning cruise from Bremerhaven to the Caribbean. With the many gala inaugural ceremonies, it would not be until April 1st that she would carry her first passengers under her new name. Her first cruise departed from Port Everglades to Bermuda. The Meridian along with her new fleet mates, the Horizon and Zenith, would soon make Celebrity Cruises a name for itself in the cruise market. The company became very profitable and decided to expand. Every year or so a new build would be added to the fleet slowly increasing the number of ships from the original three to six. Celebrity Cruises was eventually sold to Royal Caribbean International. RCI was determined to keep a very modern fleet sailing. Unfortunately the beloved and popular Meridian was slowly showing her age compared to her new modern fleet mates. She continued to sail under the Celebrity name until September 29, 1997 when she was sold the Metro Holdings Group of Singapore for a high sum of $65 million. Her last voyage was a seven-day cruise from Baltimore to Bermuda. Immediately upon her arrival back in Baltimore the conversion process began.

The white “X” on her funnel was painted over in blue. Likewise the name Meridian was painted over with Sun Vista in its place. Among the tragedies in this conversion process was the destruction of the original Chapel from 1963 and the Cinema also from 1963. It was hard to watch the men drag remnants of these rooms to the garbage dumpsters. She remained at the Dundalk Terminals in Baltimore for and additional 2 ½ days to complete the preliminary work before sailing to Norfolk, Virginia for additional conversion work.At Norfolk, additional building supplies were brought onboard as room remnants were off-loaded. She remained in Norfolk for almost a week before heading off to Europe for the final conversion process.Once the work in Europe was finished she emerged with her graceful profile still intact. The only visual difference was the large yellow sun that adorned her blue funnel. Even the blue stripes along the sides were preserved. Inside was a slightly different story. Her once two-deck cinema was reduced to a single deck (the upper deck becoming the “Sun Club”). A small “Meeting Room” now replaced the once sacred chapel. The old Card Room was split in two, one side being left as a small library while the other became “Churchill’s”, a cigar bar. The Children’s Playroom and Olympic Health Gym were combined to create “Le Spa”. The “Interlude Bar” and casino were transformed into the “Singalong” where passengers could sing karaoke songs (a popular past time in Asia). The remaining rooms were untouched and in many cases still retained the Celebrity names.

The Sun Vista sailed to Singapore to begin her final career as the Sun Vista for Sun Cruises. As the Sun Vista she would sail on 2, 3, or 5-night cruises to the islands around Singapore and Thailand. She began her new career on February 1, 1998 with a 6-day/5-night cruise from Singapore to Thailand. Over the next few months she would be joined by the Sun Viva (ex-Renaissance II). Together they sailed without incident until May 20, 1999.

On the afternoon of May 20, 1999 the Sun Vista was returning to Singapore after a typical cruise to Phuket, Thailand when a malfunction in the engine room switchboard started a small fire. Due to factors yet explained, the fire could not be contained and spread throughout the ship. A distress call was finally sent about 6:30 PM. Meanwhile, the passengers were instructed to go up on deck and prepare to abandon ship. All 472 passengers and 672 crew managed to leave the ship. The Sun Vista slowly sank deeper and deeper by the stern for seven hours. Finally at 1:22 AM May 21, 1999 she died and sank about 60 nautical miles south of Penang Island and 50 nautical miles west of Port Weld in the Strait of Malacca in 200 feet of water. A passing freighter finally rescued the passengers after spending five to eight hours in the lifeboats. There were no fatalities and only minor injuries.

Once again, many thanks again to David Pressler for providing this fascinating history of Sun Vista.